SOCCER: Manchester City (0) v Aris Salonika (0)MANCHESTER CITY manager Roberto Mancini has claimed he has only 16 fit players to choose from this evening.

With Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given ruled out for three months, at least Joe Hart is fit to start against the Greeks.

Mancini is less worried about the goalkeeping situation than his outfield this evening, claiming he can select from only three central midfielders. In addition to injuries to Adam Johnson and Nigel de Jong, City have lost Micah Richards to a calf problem and James Milner to a hamstring injury.

Shaun Wright-Phillips is available having been sidelined with a back problem, but for anchoring midfielders Mancini will select two from Gareth Barry, Yaya Toure and Patrick Vieira and name the other on the bench.

“We have a big problem, a lot of games and a lot of injuries,” the Italian said. “It is always going to be difficult when you are playing a match every three days. Injuries are a part of the game but at least we have all our strikers available.

“If we can keep it that way for the next three matches, we should be able to make progress.”

Mancini said he could not be sure how long Carlos Tevez would stay, following reports from the captain’s agent that the striker may return to Corinthians in the next few years.

Tevez’s deal with City runs until the summer of 2014 and asked if he felt keeping the Argentinian would be a problem, Mancini said: “I don’t know this. I’m happy for Carlos because he has scored 50 goals for Manchester City and I hope he can continue to score. He is important, but in the squad there are more than 20 players who are all important. But in football it is impossible to know what will happen in the future. I hope Carlos can continue to play here.”

GuardianService